Squeezing the Juice out of an Idea

I often get asked how I come up with ideas and the truth is that I don't come up with that many ideas, what I tend to do is get an idea and squeeze as much as I can out of it as possible. I remember in high-school my biology teacher used to encourage us to look at something from every angle, she would enthusiastically urge us to get under it and over it and really see it. With my art I take a similar approach, once I get an idea, I try to approach it in many different ways using a variety of art supplies.

The idea usually starts with something I love, for example I love pebbles. I live near a spectacular pebbly beach that looks a little something like this...

By now if you have followed my posts here or on Instragram, you will know that I have painted a pebble or two. But that was really just the beginning.

It wasn't long before pebbles were showing up in my watercolour paintings.

Then they showed up in my sketchbook and a hint of whimsy started coming through. Castles, old stone walls, my imagination was being swept up on this pebble journey.

The pebbles emerged again in one of my watercolour collage projects. Again I was thinking of stone walls, hidden doors and magical kingdoms.

It was bound to happen and eventually it did. Pebbles started appearing in my large acrylic paintings.

Do you see how one simple idea can provide so much inspiration? That's what I like to call 'squeezing the juice out of an idea' and I've still got more squeezing to do. In fact I suspect I have probably just scratched the surface!